Quote:
Originally Posted by Keith P.
Ii would suggest that is true of your response, not mine. If Airbus had the capacity to build and fill their order backlog in a more timely manner the Boeing 737 order book would be much thinner. Fortunately the FAA has stepped in to ensure Boeing builds that ancient design properly.
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I readily acknowledge the current QA problems at Boeing.
What I take issue with is your statements "However there is no doubt that as an airframe it is as if GM still was trying to sell the Chevette - long past its best-before date. Airlines are only ordering it because it is cheaper than the competition.", both of which are demonstrably false.
To address the second statement first, the B737 - any model - categorically is
not materially cheaper than its competitors. Feel free to research that - you'll prove yourself wrong very quickly.
What's more pertinent, and more egregious, is the assertion that the basic 737 design is "long past its best-before date". I hardly know how best to begin to respond to that other than to say that
nobody with real knowledge and understanding of aviation and aircraft design and manufacturing would agree. In fact, they'd laugh at the idea. There are few more proven and reliable designs in aviation history.
As I noted, Boeing has very real current quality problems, largely resulting from too many MBAs and not enough engineers in the front office. Bill Boeing, a notoriously hands-on owner, is surely rolling in his grave over the disastrous squandering of his company's hard-earned reputation for top quality. It's truly tragic.
But the idea that the 737 is a design past its time and no longer suited to the current market is simply ludicrous on its face.